An Empirical Assessment of the Relationship Between Jail Population Size and County-level Crime Rates in Central PA

Recently, due to issues associated with overcrowding, underfunding, and the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a national push for prison downsizing. Advocates of downsizing have called for the de-carceration, or removal, of non-violent offenders from penal institutions. Indeed, since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States in March of 2020, many correctional institutions nationally, and in Pennsylvania specifically, have reduced the size of their correctional populations by releasing non-violent offenders. Opponents of downsizing argue that such policies are a threat to public safety and will result in an increase in crimes committed within communities that downsize their prisons. Using official data, the purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between county-level jail population sizes and county-level crime rates, as reported in the Uniform Crime Report (UCR), in Central Pennsylvania. Policy implications based on findings are discussed within.

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Work Title An Empirical Assessment of the Relationship Between Jail Population Size and County-level Crime Rates in Central PA
Access
Open Access
Creators
  1. Jazzmine McCauley
  2. Tyler Frye
  3. Abigail Lynn Harvey
  4. Cassandra Gartley
Keyword
  1. Prison population size
  2. Downsizing
  3. Corrections
  4. COVID-19
  5. Crime rates
License CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives)
Work Type Poster
Acknowledgments
  1. Nathan E. Kruis, Ph.D., Department of Criminal Justice, Penn State Altoona
  2. Nicholas J. Rowland, Ph.D., Department of Sociology, Penn State Altoona
Publication Date March 2022
DOI doi:10.26207/dbfv-7r35
Deposited March 20, 2023

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Version 1
published

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  • Updated
  • Updated Keyword, Description Show Changes
    Keyword
    • crime rates , COVID-19, corrections , downsizing , Prison population size
    Description
    • Recently, due to issues associated with overcrowding, underfunding, and the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a national push for prison downsizing. Advocates of downsizing have called for the de-carceration, or removal, of non-violent offenders from penal institutions. Indeed, since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States in March of 2020, many correctional institutions nationally, and in Pennsylvania specifically, have reduced the size of their correctional populations by releasing non-violent offenders. Opponents of downsizing argue that such policies are a threat to public safety and will result in an increase in crimes committed within communities that downsize their prisons. Using official data, the purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between county-level jail population sizes and county-level crime rates, as reported in the Uniform Crime Report (UCR), in Central Pennsylvania. Policy implications based on findings are discussed within.
  • Added Creator Jazzmine McCauley
  • Added Creator Tyler Frye
  • Added Creator Abigail Lynn Harvey
  • Added Creator Cassandra Gartley
  • Added Prison Downsizing Poster.pptx
  • Updated Publication Date, License Show Changes
    Publication Date
    • March 2022
    • 2022-03
    License
    • https://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/
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  • Updated

Version 2
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  • Created
  • Updated Keyword Show Changes
    Keyword
    • crime rates , COVID-19, corrections , downsizing , Prison population size
    • Prison population size, Downsizing, Corrections , COVID-19, Crime rates
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Version 3
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  • Created
  • Updated Acknowledgments Show Changes
    Acknowledgments
    • Nathan E. Kruis, Ph.D., Department of Criminal Justice, Penn State Altoona, Nicholas J. Rowland, Ph.D., Department of Sociology, Penn State Altoona
  • Updated License Show Changes
    License
    • https://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/
    • https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/
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Version 4
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  • Deleted Prison Downsizing Poster.pptx
  • Added Prison Downsizing Poster.pdf
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Version 5
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  • Updated License Show Changes
    License
    • https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/
    • https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
  • Published
  • Updated